A Drive-In, a Nursing Home, and a Bar

As fate would have it, both Susan and I have our high school class reunions this weekend, hers in Dickinson and mine in Tioga. (It's the 20th-year reunion for both of us. I know! Shut up!) To attend at least some of both, we have to split our time between the two. We drove up yesterday for the opening event of my reunion: a 9:00 P.M. (central time) get-together at the Rig Lounge, a bar owned/managed by my classmate Debbie. We left again today for Dickinson for the 8:00 P.M. (mountain time) opening event of Susan's reunion at Liquid Assets, a smoke-free casino/lounge. (The Rig in Tioga is decidedly not smoke-free, a trait that nearly drove Susan and me out of the place before the night's festivities had ended. Sheesh!)

Anyhoo, here are some highlights from yesterday:

We timed our arrival in Tioga to coincide with suppertime so that we could eat at Bobbi Sox, a drive-in owned by my cousin Darren's wife, Joan. The food was dee-licious. I had a chi-chi burger, stuffed spuds, and a marshmallow malt (and shared Susan's onion rings). Lemme tell ya a bit about the deliciousness of it all:

The burger was hand-formed on-site, covered in a savory chili sauce, piled high with fixings, and served on a toasted, homemade bun. The stuffed spuds and onion rings were perfectly deep-fried--not too greasy, not overdone, just crispy, hot, and wonderful. And the marshmallow malt? The best I've ever had, owing to a combination of rich marshmallow sauce, chunks of malt powder, and the best soft-serve ice cream I've had the pleasure of ingesting.

We loved it so much that we stopped there again today on our way through town headed back to Dickinson! This time we all got marshmallow malts (Susan had them add chocolate, too, to hers). We got to visit with Darren, Joan, and two of Darren's daughters, Paige and Shantell, who were working today. Last night we were served by Gayleen, a friend about my age from when I was growing up in the area.

Pert near every Thursday night, my dad volunteers at the Tioga nursing home (Tioga Medical Center Long-Term Care), playing his accordion with whoever else shows up with their own instruments to provide the residents with a night of music and, for the ambulatory among them, of dancing. We decided to meet him there and listen to the music. Here Dad is getting the music started while the others get out their guitars, violins, and keyboards to join him.

Noreen, a nursing home worker, always offers herself as a dance partner for whichever residents feel like dancing, men or women. When our girls saw Noreen dancing with a 98-year-old female resident, they were inspired to get up and waltz together themselves. Afterward people told us how impressed they were that our little girls know how to waltz. (Waltz? Two step? Polka? They're all old hat for our daughters. Step back and watch them schottische!)

I guess the girls' dancing was a big enough hit to endear them to the audience. Their next requests were for singing. Here the girls are obliging the elderly with their rendition of "Oh Suzanna," accompanied by their grandpa.

When Dad had finished playing for the night, we helped him pack up and then sent the girls home with him (we spent the night with Dad and Beverly) so that we could remain in town for the reunion festivities. We had a little time to kill before 9:00, so I drove Susan around Tioga, showing her places of interest from my childhood: my elementary school, Hillcrest, which is now being turned into apartments; the high school with its tacky wooden furniture made by the FFA displayed outside the front door (that wooden crap wasn't there 20 years ago, by the way); several friends' homes; etc.

Finally it was time to report to the Rig, and the rest of the night was very fun. Nearly everybody looks, in my estimation, pretty much the same as they did 20 years ago. Sure, some are a little heavier, but only a couple seem to have aged to any degree. (E.g., Susan's jaw dropped when I pointed out Thomas J., who she thought could have been the father of one of my classmates!) In the pic above is Candace E., the classmate with the gumption to organize the events of this reunion. Thank you, Candace!

Here's classmate Cora M. and her husband, Tony. We spent most of the night with them. Tony and Susan kept one another company while Cora and I kept spotting newly arriving classmates and going over for hugs and photos. In fact, I enlisted Cora's help to get pics of even the most resistant-to-photography classmates. I told her to go with me and tell people to pose with her so that I could take their pictures (figuring it would be harder to tell off a pretty, sweet, vivacious woman than me). It worked; however, as a consequence I have Cora's widely grinning mug in nearly every photo from last night! Oh, well.

Someone who is actually quite a good singer was running the karaoke machine all night and singing well whenever no one from our class was at the microphones. Here, though, is a group number: "Love Shack" by the B-52s. Left to right: Chad R., Mike S., me, Monica S., Candace E., Tracy P., Jeanette K., Cora M., Wendy Z. (behind Cora), Debbie I., and Kent H. (behind Debbie). Ah, gotta love that '80s music!

Those of us who grew up in/around Tioga are not surprised when such things happen as a pot-bellied pig's entering a smoky bar on a Thursday night. We pet the pig and send it on its way. Those married to those of us who grew up in/around Tioga, however, register shock and insist on a photo in order to prove to others not from Tioga what exactly goes on in Tioga. Meh. It's Debbie's pig, and she runs the bar; what're ya gonna do?

(When Susan exclaimed, "There's a pig in the bar!" Tony shushed her, warning her not to insult the other patrons.)

Before leaving today, we got a pic of Dad and his grandkids. Kyoot!

Now that we're back in Dickinson, we'll miss the remainder of the events of my reunion, which are tomorrow. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent last night getting reacquainted. Some people are much more mature than they were in high school; some people haven't changed at all in that regard! And that's just fine by me.